In District, Puzzled by Weiner’s Uncertainty on Photo

Eran Ribak just does not understand how Representative Anthony D. Weiner could not recognize whether the man in the gray boxer briefs was him or not.

“I know every photo I have on my computer, and he should know every photo he has on his computer,” said Mr. Ribak, 34, who owns a produce market in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, in Mr. Weiner’s Congressional district. “I make sure I don’t upload to my computer any photos I think are indecent, because anyone could log on and send them out.

“As a congressman, he should know better.”

Mr. Ribak waved his cellphone to show off a picture of his 2-year-old son, Josh.

“I know exactly when it was taken,” he said, as if to prove his point. “Last year at the park.”

Last weekend, a suggestive photo was sent from Mr. Weiner’s Twitter account to a 21-year-old college student in Seattle. Though Mr. Weiner quickly took the picture down, saying his account had been hacked, the picture was spotted and publicized by a conservative blogger, attracting national attention, and, after days of confusing statements, Mr. Weiner told MSNBC on Wednesday that while he had not sent out the message containing the photo, he could not “say with certitude” that the picture was not of him.

On Thursday, Mr. Weiner, a Democrat, said he had finished answering questions about the issue and intended to return to focusing on his Congressional work.

The events have captured the attention of the news media and the political world for the past six days. And in Mr. Weiner’s district, which stretches across portions of Brooklyn and Queens, his constituents said they were exasperated, confused and more than a little amused. In a series of interviews around the district on Thursday, one sentiment was expressed more than any other: residents were skeptical that their congressman could not recognize a pair of gray boxer briefs.

“I would think everybody knows their undergarments,” said Cori Attias, 46, of Mill Basin, Brooklyn, who said she would be able to recognize a picture of herself based on the underwear alone. “It would be weird if he didn’t know. It’s either, ‘Yes those are my boxer briefs,’ or ‘No, they’re not.’ ”

Photo

A corner of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, part of Representative Anthony D. Weiner's district. Some residents were exasperated by the fuss over the photo sent from his Twitter account, but most wondered why their congressman could not recognize a pair of underwear.

Ana Gonzalez, 63, a vocational rehabilitation counselor in Brooklyn who voted for Mr. Weiner, said she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“How often has he had pictures of himself in his underwear taken, or in a bathing suit, or some nonsense like that?” she asked, as she stood waiting for the bus. “He doesn’t know.”

Ms. Gonzalez said she could not imagine Mr. Weiner’s taking such a photo — “He’s very politically savvy, he wouldn’t do this” — but she added that even if he had, Congress had more pressing issues.

“Why not focus on the real stuff — joblessness, the economy, hunger, not whether he sent a Twitter or not,” she said.

At the Cross Bay Diner in Howard Beach, Queens, supporters and nonsupporters alike seemed baffled by the congressman’s handling of the episode, which included a pair of press conferences on Tuesday in which Mr. Weiner refused to answer questions about the photo.

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“For a guy who’s never had a shortage of words, he certainly does now,” said Jim LaMarca, 69, who lives in Mr. Weiner’s district, in Brooklyn. He said he was a registered Independent and not a supporter of Mr. Weiner. “If he would just come out and said, ‘Yeah, it’s me; I don’t know how it got there; I’m sorry,’ it would have been over. Instead, he’s given people a lot of logs to throw on the fire.”

JoAnne Rosina, 60, a retired librarian, and her mother-in-law, Marge Rosina, said they were supporters of Mr. Weiner. As they finished up lunch at the diner, JoAnne Rosina offered her own theory about where the image might have come from.

“I think maybe it’s an old photo that resurfaced,” she said, noting that unflattering photos of politicians often become public after they have been elected.

Photo

Eran Ribak, a market owner in Sheepshead Bay, said Mr. Weiner “should know every photo he has on his computer.” Credit
Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times

“But why did he put it on YouTube!” her mother-in-law shouted. (In fact, the photo was only sent out over Twitter, and Mr. Weiner says his account was hacked.)

The mere existence of the picture — which, according to Mr. Weiner himself, may or may not be of him — has raised questions among some.

“It makes me think, why would he want to take a photo of himself in his underwear, for what purpose?” asked Arlene Gilden, 78, who was shopping in a produce market in Sheepshead Bay. “It’s a little silly. If he did do it, which I don’t think he did, his credibility has cracked. If it’s something he has time to do, it’s a little sick.”

A few feet away, Joyce Vento stood inspecting produce, and in the course of a five-minute conversation, vacillated between skepticism — “He doesn’t know what he looks like?” she asked, incredulously — and understanding. Offering up a sympathetic theory, she suggested that perhaps Mr. Weiner had taken the picture “to impress his wife.”

But then, pausing to consider Huma Abedin, Mr. Weiner’s wife who is an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ms. Vento decided she might not be impressed after all. “She’s a smart, beautiful woman,” she explained.

Morris Mosseri, 36, who works for a security company and lives in the Marine Park section of Brooklyn, said he was confident the photo was of Mr. Weiner.

“There must be such a picture of him out there, otherwise he’d say, ‘It’s not a picture of me,’ ” Mr. Mosseri said. “After Brett Favre, I thought nobody could be that dumb.”

But, he added, he doubted the photo would hurt the political career of Mr. Weiner, who has expressed interest in running for mayor of New York in 2013.

“This is America,” Mr. Mosseri said. “People forgive and forget.”

A version of this article appears in print on June 3, 2011, on Page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: In District, Puzzled by Weiner’s Uncertainty on Photo. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe